Sheridan had burst into laughter at that, while Myra beamed and told her it was a foolproof system.
‘What’s your birth sign?’ she asked Nina suddenly.
‘Cancer,’ said Nina. ‘Why?’ She caught sight of the horoscopes. ‘Are you superstitious?’ she asked.
‘Only about sports,’ replied Sheridan. ‘When my brothers used to play competitively, I always used to bring my lucky scarf to their matches. Whenever I wore it, one or the other of them scored. I knew that realistically it was nothing to do with the scarf, but I did it all the same. I’m not one for horoscopes, though.’ She couldn’t remember what had been predicted for Cancerians. She herself was a Leo. Myra had suggested that it was time for Leos to grab the tiger by the tail, which had amused Sheridan.
‘I like the Central News horoscopes,’ said Nina. ‘They can be uncannily accurate sometimes. My latest says that painful events should be coming to a conclusion.’
‘That’s nice to know.’ Sheridan wondered who Myra’s Cancerian subject was, and what painful events were in her life. ‘We have a great psychic,’ she added, crossing her fingers at the blatant lie.
‘Do you really?’ Nina’s eyes grew larger. ‘Who is she?’
‘I can’t possibly tell you that,’ Sheridan said. ‘They’d kill me.’
‘You’ve a good agony aunt, too,’ added Nina. ‘Sarah’s very down-to-earth.’
‘I know,’ said Sheridan. ‘I don’t know how she keeps on top of the troubles people have.’
‘I felt like writing to her myself,’ said Nina. ‘After Sean went. But everyone would’ve known it was me. There can’t be too many people in Ardbawn who’d be saying that their husband was shacking up with a TV star.’
‘Can you guess who sends in the problems?’ asked Sheridan.
‘I try sometimes,’ Nina admitted. ‘Though maybe I’m completely wrong.’
‘At first I thought they were made up,’ confessed Sheridan. ‘But they’re not. They come from lots of places, though, not just Ardbawn.’ She repeated what Myra had told her about readers from all over the country and beyond.
‘Amazing how so many of us have things we need help with and nobody we can turn to,’ said Nina.
‘Didn’t you have anyone to talk to when the whole thing with Sean broke?’
‘Of course. I have plenty of friends in Ardbawn,’ said Nina. ‘But I’m not much good at having that type of conversation. Besides, I always felt Sean and I seemed to have it worked out. We’ve had our ups and downs and come through them OK.’
‘I’m sure your friends would have been supportive,’ said Sheridan. ‘It’s always nice to know that you can rely on people.’
‘Oh, I know. And they are very supportive. But I still feel so let down by him. Humiliated. Embarrassed, too.’
‘I was embarrassed about being made redundant,’ said Sheridan. ‘And when my friend who hadn’t lost her job was offered another one, I felt even worse. I was jealous of her. I hate having to say that, but I was. Getting the job here and coming to Ardbawn was kind of humiliating for me.’
‘But the Central News is great,’ protested Nina. ‘DJ is a lovely man.’
‘He’s a character,’ agreed Sheridan.
‘He does a lot of good work in the community,’ said Nina. ‘The Central News supports local businesses.’
‘Mostly Paudie O’Malley’s.’ Sheridan thought this would be an excellent opportunity to gossip about him. Gossip was, after all, far more interesting than hard news, and a good way to get the sort of information that wasn’t currently public.
‘That’s because he has so many businesses in the area. He employs people locally as well as nationally. He’s very well respected in the town.’ Nina’s voice was suddenly clipped.
‘Hard to believe that anyone can be as successful as him and not walk on a few toes,’ Sheridan said.
‘Of course.’
‘D’you know him?’ asked Sheridan.
‘I’ve met him.’
‘Is he as abrasive as everyone says? Or is he simply reclusive?’
‘I haven’t seen or talked to him in a long time,’ replied Nina.
‘There was that incident with his wife . . .’
‘Such a terrible tragedy.’ Nina started to clear away the dishes and stack them in the dishwasher. ‘But it was years ago.’
‘She fell out of a window? Or off a balcony or something?’
‘Out of a full-length upstairs window,’ Nina clarified as she took an apple tart from the Aga and began to slice it.
‘And there was an investigation.’
‘Yes. It was inevitable under the circumstances.’
‘But it was all just a tragic accident?’
Nina turned around to Sheridan, the knife still in her hand.
‘Of course it was an accident. What are you implying?’
‘Nothing.’ Sheridan was surprised by the sudden tension in Nina’s voice. She couldn’t help thinking that nice as the guesthouse owner was being tonight, she was a very volatile character. She wished Nina would put down the knife. It was disconcerting to have her holding it like that when she seemed upset.
‘The police investigated it thoroughly.’ Nina spoke calmly again as she slid the slices of apple tart on to plates. ‘There was no reason to suspect anything of anybody. Elva fell.’
‘Did some people think she was pushed?’ asked Sheridan. ‘I read something . . .’
‘Such rubbish!’ exclaimed Nina. ‘Of course she wasn’t pushed.’
‘Anyway, Paudie seems to have moved on,’ said Sheridan, startled by the vehemence in Nina’s voice. ‘He’s done amazingly well.’
‘Yes, he has,’ Nina told her. ‘He’s a strong man.’
‘Behind every strong man there’s a woman,’ said Sheridan. ‘Is there a woman in Paudie’s life?’
‘Not that I know of.’
‘So he lives all alone?’
‘More or less,’ said Nina. ‘His children stay with him from time to time, but they’re adults now. They all have their own lives and their own homes.’
‘There were three – no, four children?’
‘Have you researched him?’ Nina looked curiously at Sheridan.
‘A bit.’ Sheridan shrugged slightly. ‘He’s Ardbawn’s claim to fame, after all, as well as my employer.’
Nina didn’t say anything.
‘It must have been hard for him, bringing up the children on his own after Elva died,’ added Sheridan.
‘Yes.’ Nina’s eyes darkened. ‘Yes, it must have been. Of course JJ was sixteen or seventeen when the accident happened, not exactly a child any more, and he was always old for his years. The youngest is Cushla. She was about ten at the time. I remember her in the graveyard, all dressed in black with a red rose pinned to her coat, God love her.’ Nina’s voice cracked and then she recovered. ‘Still, she’s doing well now, she’s an auctioneer – art and jewellery and stuff like that. Peter – the boy who was closest to her in age – is a motorbike racer.’
‘I read that.’
‘I supposed you must have, it’s a sport, isn’t it? I don’t think he’s won any races, but he’s happy and so are we because better he’s racing on a track over there than speeding through the town here, which is what he used to do. A total tearaway, particularly after his mother died. But a good boy behind it all.’
‘There was another daughter, wasn’t there? Married? And JJ works in the family business, doesn’t he?’
‘JJ’s the sensible one, always has been,’ said Nina. ‘Paudie wanted his kids to be involved, but JJ is the only one who was interested. He spends a lot of his time in Dublin, though. Sinead’s the only one still in Ardbawn. Mike, her husband, is a nice guy, but I’m sure things aren’t always easy for her.’
‘Oh, why not?’ Sheridan was interested in what sounded like a decent bit of gossip at last.
‘Mike’s an engineer. He works on oil pipelines, which often keeps him away for weeks at a time. That’s
difficult when you’ve got a small kid. Also, he’s a real outdoor-adventure sort of guy. Loves mountaineering and rock-climbing, all that sort of thing. Last year he was injured when some rocks fell on him. Broke an arm, concussed, had to be airlifted off the mountain. It was touch and go for a while.’
‘I’m surprised that wasn’t in the papers too,’ said Sheridan.
‘Paudie does his best to keep his family private,’ Nina said. ‘He struggled after Elva’s death to keep some of the more ghoulish stories away from the kids’ eyes. Bloody newspapers, you really are vultures.’
‘You can’t have it both ways, Nina,’ said Sheridan. ‘The Central News is a paper too. You can’t say DJ treats everyone sensitively and then call all the others vultures.’
‘I think it was because of some of the more sensationalist coverage all those years ago that Paudie developed an interest in the media himself,’ said Nina. ‘He couldn’t bear the way tragedy was turned into sales.’
Sheridan nodded. She couldn’t deny that some newspapers did very well out of other people’s grief and suffering.
‘Anyway, he’s doing incredibly well now.’ Nina sounded relieved. ‘Everyone in Ardbawn thinks he deserves his success.’
‘And how about his personal life?’ asked Sheridan. ‘It seems odd that he hasn’t met someone else.’
‘Elva was the love of his life. He dated a few times after the accident. But nobody will ever replace Elva for him. Ever.’
Sheridan wondered how well Nina Fallon knew Paudie O’Malley. Would she be able to swing an interview for her? If she swore to Nina that her motives were pure and that she only wanted to write a quality piece about the town’s most famous businessman, would she agree to ask him? Although that’s not strictly true, she acknowledged to herself. I want to write something controversial about him. Because I don’t believe he’s all sweetness and light like Nina wants to make out, and because I’m sure that the tragedy with his wife changed his attitude too.
‘Where does he live?’ she asked Nina. ‘He’s not a tax exile only dropping in from time to time, is he?’
‘His house is another few kilometres up the road,’ Nina told her. ‘He lives there, although he’s got a place overseas too. I can’t remember where. March Manor is the most gorgeous house. He did a big renovation job on it a few years ago. Invited everyone in the town along to a party afterwards.’
‘Nice of him.’
‘It was a great evening, I believe. The Central News said it was like something out of the movies. He picked a summer’s night and there were lights all over the garden and along the driveway.’
‘Didn’t you go yourself?’ asked Sheridan.
‘I . . . no.’
‘Why not?’
‘It was the summer,’ said Nina. ‘We were very busy with the guesthouse.’
Sheridan’s eyes narrowed as she looked at her. ‘But surely . . .’
‘I didn’t feel the need to go and look at the house,’ said Nina. ‘I knew it well before. I’ve lived here all my life.’
‘Are you friends with Paudie?’ asked Sheridan.
‘He’s twelve years older than me,’ said Nina. ‘I know him but I was never close friends with him. He didn’t own the house when I was younger. The Farrellys did. Tina Farrelly was in school with me, that’s how I knew it. He bought it from them after he got married, even though it needed some work done to it.’
‘Right.’
‘He was always ambitious, but he wasn’t a rich man then. He couldn’t afford to do the house up until much later.’
‘Was that the reason his wife fell out of the window?’ asked Sheridan. ‘Because it was rotting away or something.’
‘Of course not,’ said Nina. ‘They’d long since made it habitable.’
‘I’d love to see it.’
‘You can drive by,’ said Nina. ‘It’s hidden by trees, but you can make out the chimney stacks.’
‘Not very interesting.’ Sheridan laughed. ‘What I’d want is to see the window his wife fell out of.’
‘Why?’ Nina looked annoyed. ‘Why would you want to?’
‘It’s the reporter in me,’ admitted Sheridan.
‘You don’t want to go raking all that up again.’ Nina looked anxious. ‘We leave Paudie alone here. He deserves it.’
‘What was his wife like?’ asked Sheridan.
Nina didn’t reply straight away. Sheridan could see that she was back in the past, remembering.
‘She was beautiful,’ she said eventually. ‘She was easily the loveliest woman in Ardbawn.’
‘Did you know her?’ asked Sheridan.
‘Yes.’
‘Friends?’
‘Not really. She was older than me too. Not as old as Paudie, but out of my circle. They came to the guesthouse a few times, though. Sean and I did Sunday lunches for a while. Elva and Paudie used to come.’
‘It must have been a real shock to everyone when it happened.’
‘Yes.’
‘You don’t like talking about it.’
‘It’s a private matter,’ said Nina. ‘It was a sad time for the town. For Paudie.’ She swallowed. ‘For everyone.’
‘Was she popular?’ asked Sheridan.
‘She was Ardbawn born and bred,’ said Nina.
‘Did you like her?’
‘I hardly knew her.’
But, thought Sheridan, as Nina got up and put the kettle on, there’s something about her that bothers you. That you envied. Or disliked. Because whenever you talk about her, there’s a hesitation in your voice. And I’d really like to know why.
She watched Nina as she took tea bags out of a cupboard. I’ve upset her, thought Sheridan. Though that’s probably because of her own marital troubles, not because of anything to do with Paudie O’Malley and his dead wife. Maybe it’s because she’s afraid I’ll go nosing around and upset Mr Slash-and-Burn. It’s clear that everyone in Ardbawn thinks the sun shines out of his arse. But I’m not so certain. And I’m not entirely convinced that his wife’s death was the accident everyone says it was either.
She smiled to herself. She knew she had a vivid imagination and she knew she was letting it run away with her. But she still wanted to know more about the ambitious Paudie and the beautiful Elva.
Nina put the teapot on the table.
‘I’m sorry if I was asking too much,’ Sheridan said. ‘My friend Talia tells me I’m missing the sensitive gene. Comes with having been raised in a testosterone-filled household.’
‘There wasn’t a whole heap of sensitivity in my upbringing either,’ Nina told her. ‘My mother was a “you’ve made your bed now lie in it” sort of woman and she didn’t have much time for tears or tantrums.’
‘She’d have got on well with mine, so.’ Sheridan grinned. ‘Mum was sympathetic about me losing my job, but she wants me to look on it as an opportunity.’
‘It is.’ Nina gave her a slight smile. ‘It’s an opportunity to leave the rat race for a while and find a gentler way here in Ardbawn.’
‘I don’t think life is gentle no matter where you live,’ said Sheridan. ‘It has an unending capacity to bite you on the bum when you’re least expecting it.’
‘You’re right,’ agreed Nina. ‘And I suppose that, after a period of feeling sorry for yourself, you just have to get on with things.’
‘Exactly.’
‘It’s hard sometimes.’
‘I know,’ said Sheridan. ‘But Nina, you’re running the guesthouse on your own and you’re coping. Maybe you need to get out more, but I understand why you want to keep to yourself for a while. When my boyfriend split with me just after I was made redundant, it totally shattered my confidence.’
‘We’re a pair of right old losers, so,’ said Nina.
‘Never!’ Sheridan spoke fiercely. ‘You’re not a loser, and neither am I.’
Nina looked surprised.
‘I’m not allowed to be,’ explained Sheridan. ‘It’s practically mandatory in my family no
t to give in to anything.’
‘So are you and I going to be cheerleaders for positivity?’ asked Nina.
‘Absolutely.’
‘Fair enough, so.’ Nina nodded. ‘I’ll try to keep that in mind.’
After they’d had another glass of wine, and kept the conversation well away from Ardbawn, Sean Fallon and the O’Malleys, Sheridan left the guesthouse and walked a little unsteadily back to the studio. She was glad that she and Nina had talked and that they’d forged some kind of friendship. She liked the older woman even if she was a mercurial character. She seemed to know everyone in Ardbawn, which could be useful in the future. Sheridan wondered if she was acquainted with the handsome stranger and his tousle-headed footballing son. She wanted to know more about him. Even though she already knew the only thing that mattered.
He wasn’t available.
Chapter 16
She arrived before DJ and Shimmy on Monday morning, but because she didn’t have any keys to the office she waited in the deli, sipping her freshly brewed coffee, until DJ turned up, swinging his Range Rover into the space directly in front of the door. She hurried outside and stood beside him as he opened up the office.
‘It’s going to be weird without Myra,’ he said.
‘I’ll do my best so’s you don’t miss her too much,’ Sheridan told him.
‘I’m sure you will,’ said DJ as they went upstairs. ‘It’s just that she’s been with us a long time. And she’s good at looking after us.’
‘You’re grown men,’ said Sheridan. ‘You can look after yourselves.’
DJ grinned and filled the kettle.
‘I take it you don’t want a cup,’ he said, ‘seeing as you’ve already shelled out a ridiculous amount of money on that muck they make next door.’
‘It’s nice coffee,’ she said defensively. ‘And I had to buy something while I was waiting for you to turn up.’
‘I’ll give you keys,’ said DJ.
‘Thank you.’
Better Together Page 17
